31. May 2010 by Gore Wehner.

I’ll be attending the New Jersey SCBWI conference June 4th and 5th, and hopefully gleaming tidbits of information about the publishing market as it stands, now. If you’ve never attended a writing conference, I encourage you to do so. SCBWI stands for Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. They have conferences all over the United States (and other countries as well).

The reason I recommend attending a conference such as this is that you’ll learn up-to-date firsthand information about the marketplace, what editors and agents are currently looking for, writing advice, and sometimes for an extra nominal fee you can have a portion of your manuscript critiqued by a professional in the industry.

Published authors as well as people new to the craft of writing (and in this case, illustrating) attend these conferences. And it’s a great place to pitch your book to an agent or editor you’ve admired for awhile.

When I come back from the conference, I’ll outline some things I’ve learned.

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21. May 2010 by Gore Wehner.

First off, to all the writing newbies out there who feel lost in a sea of ambivalence, you will probably want to join a critique group at some point. Why? Because there’s only so far you can go on your own. Eventually you’ll want feedback on what you’ve written…if you want to become a published writer, that is. Why? Because you’ve probably at some point lost the reader, been too vague, been too specific, made no sense, forgotten about a character, or messed up in grammar, spelling , or punctuation. And that’s just a small example of what might be wrong in your manuscript.

Friends and family do not count as good critiquers. For one thing, they’ll read your work out of obligation (or not read it and pretend they did), then not be completely honest for fear of hurting your feelings. Or they might be too blunt, thereby leaving you frustrated and too angry to write again. Not to mention, if they aren’t writers, they don’t understand the craft enough to care to help you make your work better. You need other writers–people you’ve never met before. Although acquaintances will do in a pinch.

Finding a critique group isn’t easy. They’re often “underground” ventures. Sometimes they’re offshoots from writers conventions, or a one-time posting at the local library.

Check with local bookstores. Some of them host writing groups. But if you can’t find one it’s  time to take matters into your own hands and start one.

See if your local coffee shop, library, or book store will allow you to use their facility to have a writers group. Most will be thrilled for the extra business, and you can see if they’ll even fork over the money for an ad in the paper specifying where and when your group will meet and what your group is all about. Once or twice a month is good for busy people. Very dedicated writers may want to meet every week on the same night.

At the first meeting, decide with the other members how everyone wants the group to work. It’s best to get feedback at this stage because when other members weigh in, you end up with a tighter group that tends to stay together.  Ask if they want to split off into smaller groups for critiquing based on genre. Or have everyone take turns critiquing all members work each week. (This works better in small groups.) Should people bring copies of the work they want critiqued so everyone can read it on their own? Or would they rather read it aloud to the group? Or should people send their work via email first? How many pages should people critique at a time? 5? 15? (Critiquing by page works better than by chapter because some people write very long chapters while others write short chapters, and it won’t be fair for everyone.)

Then you must lay ground rules:

1) No one is allowed to be cruel-everything must be put in a kind way.

2) If you have a problem with something in the story, you must be able to explain why you feel that way. “I don’t like it,” is not good feedback. “I feel the character isn’t sympathetic enough because she shrugs his problem off,” is good feedback.

3) The recipient of the feedback should remain silent and listen, even if if they don’t agree. Arguing wastes time. If you don’t believe someone is right in their feedback, then don’t make the change. But disagreeing is often counterproductive. The only time a recipient should explain themselves is when they need clarification on a point, or want to see how they can make their point more clear to the reader. Have this be agreed upon by other members, or you’ll find arguing will chew up precious minutes of time.

4) If someone does not care for someone’s choice of writing style or genre, they are allowed to be silent and not participate. Forcing people to share feedback never works.

And most important:

5) Everyone who critiques the work must share what they feel has been done well  in the story. Writers need to know what is working as well as what’s not working.

That’s it in a nutshell. Good luck, and have fun with your group!

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19. March 2010 by Gore Wehner.

I have a wonderful critique group. I hand picked each member based on both skill and innate talent. So I’d like to toss out a kudos to Melissa for three of her published books, and plug her titles here.

Going to School Around the World (Meet Our New Student), Meet Our New Student from South Africa, and The Fall of Apartheid in South Africa (Monumental Milestones: Great Events of Modern Times).

A very gifted writer, Melissa is thorough in her research and dedicated to her craft. If you get a chance, check these titles out.

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